Someone Worth Fighting For
by blk0912
Summary: Jesse's, and Shelby's, thoughts, about what happened post-Journey. Includes a happy St. Berry ending.


**a/n:** I've found another story that I'm okay enough with to post. It's a mixture of different points of view, my idea of what should have happened. Hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: **I unfortunately do not own Glee : (

* * *

><p>Shortly after winning his fourth consecutive National Show Choir Championship, Jesse St. James was filled with an emotion he'd become all too familiar with lately. Regret.<p>

He regretted ruining his chances with Rachel by agreeing to help Shelby in the first place, he regretted leaving Rachel without being able to properly explain himself, he regretted egging her and simply watching his so-called teammates humiliate her. He was also beyond furious with Shelby for making him go through everything just for her to decide she didn't want Rachel in her life, that she wanted to "admire her from afar" or whatever the excuse was that Shelby had decided on. He couldn't wait to get back to Ohio, simply because then he would finally be able to get away from Shelby and so he could finish packing for New York.

His parents weren't thrilled that he'd passed up a full ride to UCLA, but Jesse didn't care anymore. His parents were more concerned with their precious money than they were with their own child. He'd gotten a scholarship to Tisch-it would pay for his classes and his books, he would just need to pay for room and board.

He hadn't told Shelby, or any of his other teammates, that he was planning on going to New York instead of Los Angeles for college. Really, it was none of their business what he did with his life. Besides, in two years, Rachel would be in New York as well. Maybe by then she'd be willing to forgive him, and if she wasn't already taken, he'd get a second chance with her.

Jesse was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of Shelby calling his name.

"Jesse." Shelby repeated for what seemed like the millionth time

"What?" asked Jesse irritably

"You've been either acted indifferent towards me, or been rude to me, ever since you came back. What's going on?"

Jesse took a deep breath before turning to face his now former coach,

"You lost any respect I had for you the minute you decided that if you couldn't have the Rachel you imagined, no one would get to have the amazing person she really is. You _knew_ I cared about her, yet you thought of no one but yourself. It's always about you, Shelby. It can never be about anyone else. _You_ wanted to meet Rachel, _you_ came up with this _brilliant_ plan to get her to come to you so that you wouldn't have to break the contract you _willingly_ signed sixteen years ago. _You _did _nothing_ to stop the others, even though you knew very well what they were up to. I won you your championship, now I want you to leave me alone."

"Jesse, I-" Started Shelby

"You're what, Shelby? Sorry? Save it. I no longer need to talk to you. I'm done with Vocal Adrenaline, and I'm done with you. The _only_ way I would speak to you again, unless absolutely necessary, is if _Rachel_ decides to let me back into her life and decides she wants you in it, too. I don't want to hear your insincere apology, so like I said, just save it. The person who deserves the most sincere apology you can muster up is Rachel." Jesse snapped

"You love her." Shelby said with a bit of wonder in her voice

Jesse threw his hands up in the air in frustration before replying.

"I'm glad you finally figured that out, but it's too late, so it does neither one of us any good."

"Stay away from her, Jesse."

"You can't tell me what to do, or who to see, anymore, Shelby. You're not my coach anymore, you're not my mentor anymore. Most of all, you're not someone I look up to, or admire, anymore. So, no, I won't stay away from her. _You_ stay away from her. _You_ got her hopes up. This whole mess is your fault. If you had just left well enough alone, and let me actually run my own life, instead of constantly interfering, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I have to finish packing, my plane leaves in a few hours. Goodbye Shelby." Said Jesse before turning around and walking away, leaving Shelby slightly speechless

* * *

><p>Watching Jesse walk away, Shelby was also immediately filled with regret. She'd never meant for things to turn out the way that they had. She'd had a feeling that Jesse was upset with her, but she hadn't imagined that he would be as angry as he clearly was. She hadn't realized that she had hurt both Rachel and Jesse as much as she had. Shelby knew that she was lucky that she'd even gotten to <em>talk<em> to Rachel, considering her contract clearly stated she couldn't contact her until she was 18. When she saw her at the show choir competition earlier that year, she'd been taken by surprise.

Then, When Jesse had said that he was going out on a date, and would therefore need to leave practice early, she'd been her normal nosy self and asked who. She recognized the name immediately, and once Rachel's Glee coach had approached her, she'd come up with the plan. She hadn't expected Jesse or Rachel to fall so quickly. While she had kind of figured something was up when Jesse told her that he was transferring, she'd had no idea that he was really doing it for himself, not for her. He'd wanted to be closer to Rachel, to really be with her.

A few weeks later, when he'd asked to come with on Spring Break, she'd been surprised. The entire time they were in San Diego, she could tell that something was bothering him, but she couldn't get it out of him. No one could. When they returned, Shelby had expected Jesse to tell her that he was ready to come back. She hadn't expected him to tell her that he was returning to McKinley. He'd started to say something else, but had stopped himself mid-sentence. Now, nearly two months later, Shelby had her championship, like she'd wanted, but something was missing. After witnessing Jesse's usually well-harnessed anger, she realized that she gone about everything all wrong.

* * *

><p>After returning to his parents' house in Akron, Jesse quickly finished packing his things and was looking at when the next flight to New York was, when he saw Puck's number flash across his screen.<p>

"Hello?" answered Jesse, clearly confused

"Did you mean everything that you said to your coach last week?" asked Puck

"What?"

"About her not wanting Rachel, about you loving her."

"How do you know about that?"

"Shelby confessed everything to Rachel's dads and begged them to let her apologize to Rachel in person."

"Did they?"

"They were in the room with Rachel, but yeah, they did. I wouldn't have if Shelby had done that to my kid."

"What did Shelby say to Rachel?" asked Jesse, not sure if he was going to like the answer or not

"She told her that you basically yelled at her. She apologized, obviously, and also said that she would leave it up to Rachel if she wanted her around or not. The thing that upset Rachel the most was the fact that Shelby told her that you truly did love her."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I was there with her."

"I thought she was with Hudson now." Said Jesse

"No. She told Finn that she needed to figure out who she was again before she started seriously dating anybody. Finn wasn't happy."

"She's a star." Jesse said simply

"She's a pretty dully one right about now, St. James. She doesn't know about the whole me calling you thing yet, and she could be very angry with me when she finds out. I'd really rather not piss her off. She's kind of scary when she's angry."

"She just gets very determined and set in her ways when she's angry. Usually, she's more upset than angry."

"You controlled her crazy. She wouldn't be Rachel if she wasn't just a tad bit crazy, but she's fucking insane right now. She's not herself."

"Where do I fit into all of this?" asked Jesse with a sigh

"Did you not hear me? She needs you, just as much as you need her, so don't be stupid. Just get your ass to Lima and make things right with her."

"How do you know she even wants to speak to me?"

"She'll speak to you. She'll probably yell at you first, but eventually, she'll speak to you."

"I'm supposed to just walk right up to her house, after everything I put her through?"

"Her dads don't blame you. They blame Shelby."

"I cracked an egg on her forehead."

"Seriously, St. James, have you not been listening? Do I need to come to Akron and knock some sense into you? _You_ are the _only_ one she wants to see right now, yet you're the one person she least expects to see."

"If this doesn't work, you owe me." Said Jesse before hanging up the phone

Quickly grabbing his jacket and his keys, Jesse made his way to his car, so that he could finally see Rachel again.

* * *

><p>"So Noah calling you is what made you decide to come talk to me?" asked Rachel as she and Jesse sat in their New York apartment, nearly five years to the date later<p>

Jesse chuckled and then said, "Yes, my love, Puckerman's phone call was the final push that I didn't know I needed. It felt really good to yell at your mom like that, too."

Rachel laughed and then said, "I always knew that you could verbally tear someone apart, but I never thought my mom would be on the receiving end of it. Especially considering how close you two are now."

"Like I told Shelby all those years ago, the only way I'd speak to her again was if you decided that you wanted her in your life. I still can't believe you sweet talked your way into finishing high school online so that you could move out here with me."

Rachel simply smiled and then said, "I have my fathers wrapped around my finger, just like you."

Jesse laughed and then hugged his fiancée close to him before replying, "Yes, you do, and I wouldn't change that for the world. I love you, my beautiful drama queen."

"I love you, too, my handsome drama king."


End file.
